Why we rescued the tackiest tinsel in town and we’ve already decorated our bar for Christmas

When a historic Yorkshire pub went up for lease, there was an iconic collection of Christmas decorations that couldn’t be handed over.
The Black Rock, Wakefield has remained a popular watering hole for workers in the city centre who would pile in every evening and fill the small pub, huddling over their beloved pints.

It was always quite a down-beat pub until its then landlord and custodians began acquiring a collection of decorations every Christmas. Over the years some stray bits of tinsel evolved into an array of plastic bells, colourful foil decorations and bags upon bags of tinsel.
The Black Rock regular and owner of a nearby bar Nathan Birkenshaw said: “When you think of Christmas in Wakefield, you think of a pint in The Black Rock surrounded by all those decorations.
“A collection curated over the course of twenty years by Shaun Salter, Matt Copeland, Marc Beachill, featuring all the tackiest tinsel you can imagine.”
Nathan and other regulars however “sorely missed” the tacky plastic fantastic decorations when the pub changed hands. The Black Rock donated the decorations to Wakefield Pride charity.
Nathan decided that his nearby bar The Golden Pineapple could be a worthy home for the decs which had remained in the charity’s closet.
“The festive decorations have been sorely missed, and after leaving The Black Rock in 2022, we thought they deserved a fitting new home not too far away”, he added.
“After making a small contribution to Wakefield Pride charity, and with some gentle arm-twisting, we became the custodians of Wakefield’s pride and joy – an absurd amount of 70s, 80s, and 90s Christmas decorations.